Mediate Lawsuit launches national survey on AI and mediation

Mediate Lawsuit has opened a 2026 national survey to gauge how U.S. mediators use generative AI, what risks they see and whether the profession needs clearer standards. The 22-question study also looks at how AI may affect how mediators are discovered and evaluated by attorneys, businesses and consumers.

Why it matters: - Artificial intelligence is moving into mediation practice, raising questions about confidentiality, professional responsibility and accuracy. - The survey is designed to create a national benchmark for how U.S. mediators are actually using generative AI and where they think the profession is headed. - The findings could influence whether the mediation field develops clearer guidance for AI use.

What happened: - Mediate Lawsuit launched the 2026 National AI & Mediation Survey on Oct. 15, 2026. - The 22-question survey is open to practicing mediators across the United States through Nov. 15, 2026. - The mediation and alternative dispute resolution platform is powered by Lawsuit.com.

The details: - The survey asks mediators whether they use generative AI regularly, occasionally, have experimented with it, or have not used it in professional work. - It examines uses including professional research, document summarization, drafting and editing correspondence, preparing mediation materials, administrative work, and marketing and business development. - The study also asks about confidentiality of mediation information, data privacy and security, accuracy of AI-generated information, fabricated information or citations, professional responsibility, potential bias, over-reliance on technology, and loss of the human element in mediation. - Participants are asked whether the mediation profession needs clearer professional guidance or standards for generative AI. - The survey asks whether mediators have searched for themselves or their practices on AI platforms. - It also looks at how important mediators expect AI to become in helping attorneys, businesses and consumers identify or evaluate mediators. - The research asks whether practices have taken steps to improve how professional expertise is represented or discovered by AI systems. - Mediate Lawsuit plans to analyze responses in aggregate and publish the findings after the study concludes. - Participants will receive access to the survey results so they can compare their approach with reported industry practices and concerns. - Participation is voluntary, and individual responses or comments will not be publicly attributed without permission.

Between the lines: - The survey suggests AI is no longer just a productivity question for mediators; it is becoming a professional standards issue. - The focus on discovery and search visibility points to a second-order effect: AI may influence not only how mediators work, but also how they are found and selected. - Bob Levin, co-founder and chief technology officer of Mediate Lawsuit, said the goal is to document what mediators are doing with AI today, what concerns them and where they believe the profession is heading. - Levin also said the study is meant to examine where mediators believe AI can add value, where they see risk and where the profession may need clearer guidance.

What's next: - Mediate Lawsuit will publish the aggregate results after the survey closes. - The resulting report will cover AI adoption, professional concerns and mediators' expectations for the technology's role in the profession. - Practicing U.S. mediators can participate in the survey here.

The bottom line: - The mediation field is being asked to define where AI fits before the technology becomes a routine part of research, communication and mediator discovery.